AUGUSTA — The New York man accused of killing two Augusta residents early Christmas morning was being held without bail after making his first court appearance Wednesday at the Capital Judicial Center.

David W. Marble Jr., 29, of Rochester has been charged with two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Eric Williams, 35, and Bonnie Royer, 26, whose bodies were found by police responding to a 911 call that one of them made at 3:30 a.m. Friday. The couple were in an SUV on Sanford Road in Manchester, not far from where they lived on Easy Street in north Augusta.

The court sealed the affidavit supporting Marble’s arrest at the request of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Marchese, who cited “an active ongoing investigation.” Police had said Tuesday that the shootings were drug-related. The Maine State Police, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office have worked on the case.

Wearing an orange jail uniform and black-rimmed eyeglasses, Marble appeared in court with his wrists cuffed to a wide leather belt and his ankles shackled. He was not asked to enter a plea to the charges and spoke only to tell the judge that he understood his rights. About a dozen relatives and friends of Williams and Royer sat in the courtroom to watch the five-minute hearing.

Also Wednesday, police in Rochester said they have “actively been seeking to locate and arrest Marble since Oct. 30 in connection with a car/pedestrian crash there in July that left the pedestrian with serious injuries.” The victim in the crash is identified in the accident report as Currie Clanton, 50.

“(Marble) ran over my brother. Then he actually backed up to get him off the hood and ran over him a second time,” Jerry Bunton said in a phone interview Wednesday from Rochester.

Marble was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Augusta police after they stopped a motor vehicle near Memorial Circle in Augusta. He was a passenger.

Marchese told reporters after the hearing that Marble knew the victims in Maine, but she declined to offer additional details. Members of Williams’ and Royer’s families also said they didn’t want to speak to the media.

Attorneys Pamela Ames and David Geller represented Marble, who most recently was living in an apartment at 28 Sewall St., in Augusta, the address listed in the court complaint.

Ames said after the hearing that she had met briefly with Marble to review the complaint and his rights. The defense was provided with a copy of the affidavit containing the details that police say support Marble’s arrest in the killings.

Marble’s nickname on his Facebook page is “Dee Money.” A post from Tuesday, apparently by Marble, says, “This was a good Christmas after all everybody got to present this year and I was not in locked up.” Another of his posts, from Monday, says, “Forgive me GOD FOR I HAVE SIN. Spiritus Sancti.”

Within minutes of police announcing that they had arrested Marble, relatives of the dead couple began posting angry comments on his Facebook page.

In court Wednesday, Justice Michaela Murphy read aloud the complaint that says Marble intentionally or knowingly caused the deaths of Williams and Royer with the use of a firearm. She told him that convictions carry a maximum sentence of life without parole, with a mandatory minimum of 29 years in prison on each charge, and that the sentences could be consecutive because of the two victims involved. The minimum mandatory sentence for murder is 25 years, but the use of a firearm carries an additional four-year minimum.

Marchese asked that a Harnish bail hearing, which determines whether a person accused of a capital crime should be held without bail, be set for April 8 unless the defense waives it.

In the meantime, Marble is being held without bail at the Kennebec County jail.

This is the second time within a month that the courts have sealed an affidavit related to a murder charge in Kennebec County.

In late November, Damik Davis, 25, of Queens, New York, made an initial court appearance on a charge of murder after the death of Joseph G. Marceau, 31, of Augusta.

Marceau’s body was found Nov. 23 in a fourth-floor apartment at 75 Washington St. in Augusta. Police have not said how he was killed.

Family members of Williams and Royer have planned a memorial vigil for the couple from 7-9 p.m. Friday outside their Augusta home. People are being asked to meet and park near Summerhaven and Sanford roads and walk to the house.

Williams’ funeral is set for Saturday. Arrangements have yet to be made for Royer.

Marble has been behind bars before. He was arrested in June 2010 in Rochester and charged with beating and robbing a man. According to records from New York state, he was sentenced to prison on a conviction for robbery, third degree, and was released on probation in May 2011.

Marble also is accused of hitting Clanton while he was crossing the street on July 18 in Rochester, according to an amended Oct. 6 accident report filed with the New York state Bureau of Motor Vehicles. On that document, Marble’s driving status is listed as “unlicensed,” and it says he left the scene of the accident.

Investigator Francis Camp, with the Rochester Police Department, said Marble faces a felony charge of assault in the second degree, an extraditable offense, in the accident, and that police have been looking to arrest him since Oct. 30.

“We’re coordinating with the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office and your local authorities in the state of Maine to resolve this,” Camp said. “Obviously, though, the double murder is much more serious, not to diminish what he did to this victim at all.”

The accident report indicates four separate charges or violations filed against Marble in the collision, including aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, driving without a license, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

Clanton sustained a number of bone fractures and a brain injury, spending weeks in intensive care while having several surgeries. Bunton said his brother is receiving therapy at home to learn to walk and communicate again.

Bunton said he wishes Marble had been behind bars in New York facing the charges resulting from the accident.

“When I saw that two people were killed and now their families have to go through the same thing we went through, I just wanted to scream,” Bunton said Wednesday. “The situation in your city is just so unnecessary.”

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Clubba_Lang

No comment.

arealmainer

None really needed, is there?

guest

Why comment when you can simply (dog) whistle?

arealmainer

Yes…play the race card…almost EVERY day, or at least weekly, there is…a young black male from NY state arrested for dealing drugs, killing someone, or BOTH! Of course, it looks like “Dee Money” really is a dog, so maybe youre right on target!

Thadeus Plinkton

It appears a younger girl gets involved with an older man who no doubt is a druggie and gets her involved. And him thinking he knows the game good, only he doesn’t realize the rats from out of State in the illicit drug business are not the same type of druggie rats in Maine.

The only good thing is those out of State druggie rats think we are backwater when it comes to catching them. They always have that surprised look on their faces.
Had this happen in New York city where he’s from they would have dragged their feet on it and there is a good chance he never gets caught.

hpmcg

Check it out: Rochester, NY, home of Kodak and David Marble, is near Lake Ontario and 334 miles North West of NYC. Why is it that so many Mainers equate all things NY with NYC? Perhaps they need to get out of the woods a bit more.

bootjack

Unfortunately when one mentions NewYork most think of the big apple New York City. People from upstate New York often don’t want to be associated with NewYork City but the fact is it dominates the decision making process in the state. New York might be a Red state it if it wasn’t for New York City and it’s suburbs.

darkgael

Depends on the suburb…ever been there, lived there ? The City I mean…
Yes,I agree, most from outside of NY automatically think NYC. Much more diverse than seen fro afar.

Clubba_Lang

I don’t think it’s Mainers, I’d be willing to bet NYC is the first city that people think of if NY is mentioned.

Timothy Wing

Thadeus,

You’ve solved the case! A regular Encyclopedia Brown right here in Maine.

You have zero evidence, or facts regarding this investigation. You are in no position to make suppositions about how these two individuals got involved with the suspect, or to what degree they were a part of the illegal drug trade.

arealmainer

Show me “Dee Money”!!!!

kenindy

Looks like Dee Money is getting Dee Slammer. No sympathy for the Dee Devil.

Ilovebiggov

nothing to see here folks, just another thug committing a violent crime in Maine. However just remember, BLM

bootjack

The chains are very fitting.

Devonshade

Curious to see the details of what happened that night.

Dapandico

Black NY Man arrested for murder of White couple….

guest

Nothing to see here, move along…

littlebitright

Listen, he did not mean to do it, so if B Obama had a son he would look like David. Just a few months and B O will release him.

duxndrakes

Wheres the. “White lives matter” protest.?

oldsodman

Where be Al Sharpton? Let’s not fo-get; our president say drug dealers not vi-lent!

shooter777

Ever since the lovely Rachael Talbot Ross was tossed out of her position due to being caught playing the race card, the poor young black entrepreneurs from New York have been targeted by State Police and MDEA. Just because they go 90 mph up the turnpike, armed and with a trunk full of drugs is no reason to hassle these young men making a new start in Maine. It is not fair, no Rachael, no Rev Al and no Jesse. What’s a black drug dealer from NY going to do?

Ilovebiggov

remember BLM

NutHouse Rat

Entrepeneurs in the new democrat economy.

Timothy Wing

Were drugs to be legalized, regulated and made available to those who need them, the illicit economy would collapse.

I actually agree with the legalization bit. I has made great changes for the better in countries where it’s been enacted.

mikemattmic

Why, come to Maine and help us become more diverse, of course. So good for everyone. Those who don’t like these folks are just too stupid to understand.

bobbobwhite

Every criminal on this page of MW is black. Duh. Blacks commit by far the most crimes but are only 12-13% of the total population. Check prisoner populations too…mostly blacks. And some still question what the police must do to protect their own lives when confronting a black suspect?

.

Brennan Huff

Murder 2 people in Maine and we will deal a harsh penalty against you…………..3 hots and a cot for 29 to life. There, take that. What a joke.

UserInterface

Kudos to the cops for a quick arrest.

maineman11111

ny drug dealers do NOT just hop in a car and driv up to maine
they are invited up here by native born mainers that show the outstate drug dealers the ropes of the maine communities and set up drugs with drug users.

as someone from ny posted on Dee Money”‘s fb, if u mainers were not a bunch of crack heads no body be going up there…..
if someone read the fb page, did it not say that?

there is some truth to that

shooter777

Somehow I don’t think these losers need to be invited

darkgael

If nobody was buying, they wouldn’t be coming…demand creates supply more often than not….

Clubba_Lang

So that’s the narrative you’re going with huh.

Timothy Wing

The suspect is innocent until proven guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt”.

Timothy Wing

Most of the posters in this thread seem all too willing to convict this man before the jury has rendered a verdict.

Ironic and hilarious that many of you are willing to jettison this man’s Constitutional rights so easily; yet were any of you to be arrested for allegedly committing a crime, you would all demand the prosecution / media / public respect your constitutional guarantee to a free and fair trial, etc.

arealmainer

Yeah? Well Ill let you know when Im charged with fleeing one state after almost killing a pedestrian & then killing two people while I was selling them drugs in another state…but dont hold your breathe for that to happen!!

Mike K

Please Timothy, put down the drum sticks and step away from the drums before your idealology hurts you.

bootjack

Doesn’t law enforcement communicate? Certainly Dee Money sticks out like a sore thumb in Maine, especially Augusta. The local PD would have an interest at least checking these guys out. Had they been profiling like most police in other states do he would have been in jail in New York, not killing people.

oldsodman

“Black dealers, thugs, and murderers matter”

retired vet

Is this the same Dee Money thats getting all the young white women pregnant?